NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE AND PFIZER INC PUBLISH STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT THROUGH THE USE OF HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Seventh edition of Quality Profiles™: The Leadership Series highlights successful efforts to achieve quality improvement through effective HIT implementation

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), in collaboration with Pfizer, the world’s largest biopharmaceutical company, today released a new publication providing practical examples of how health information technology (HIT) can be used to improve health care quality and value.

The federal government is now aggressively promoting the adoption of HIT to improve health care delivery in the United States, and by providing funds for incentives and infrastructure development to speed the adoption and effective use of HIT, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) recognized the important role HIT can play in adding value to the U.S. health care system and improving patient outcomes. Quality Profiles™: The Leadership Series—Focus on Supporting Quality Improvement Through the Use of Health Information Technology offers comprehensive, forward-thinking commentary on the potential of HIT to advance the quality of health care.

“The use of HIT is a transformational step toward making the health care system safer, more effective and more efficient,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “This edition of Quality Profiles highlights the potential of HIT when linked to changes in the delivery of health care in real-world settings and showcases practical examples of successful uses of HIT that can serve as models for quality improvement.”

The National Priorities Partnership (NPP) has identified six Priorities and Goals for improving the health care system—patient and family engagement, population health, safety, care coordination, palliative and end-of-life care, and overuse. These serve as a framework for a discussion of how various HIT strategies and tools can vastly improve information management and support better patient care.

NCQA and Pfizer developed the seventh edition of The Leadership Series to help health care organizations, health plans, medical groups, employers, hospitals, practitioners, consumer advocates and other stakeholders gain important insights into achieving strategic goals through the adoption and use of HIT.

“The use of HIT can bring many benefits to patients and to the many professionals engaged in their care,” said Pfizer’s Chief Medical Officer, Freda C. Lewis-Hall, M.D. “Our goal is to share practical examples of successful approaches that can serve as models of how HIT can be adopted, implemented and evaluated.”

This addition to the Quality Profiles series includes innovative profiles of successful uses of HIT to improve quality, such as:

• Strategies to improve patients’ cardiovascular health through the use of HIT and quality reporting
• A program that combines the care coordination services of a care manager with robust electronic tracking and reminder systems
• Deployment of an electronic medical record system to help identify gaps in care and distribute that information to providers and case managers
• An Internet-based health record system that is helping to reduce the overuse of psychotropic medications in foster children
• An electronic health record system used to provide physicians with customized patient recommendations based on established guidelines

To obtain a copy of Quality Profiles™: The Leadership Series—Focus on Supporting Quality Improvement Through the Use of Health Information Technology or a previous edition, Focus on Cardiovascular Disease, Focus on Depression, Focus on Diabetes, Focus on Enhancing Care for Older Adults, Focus on Wellness and Prevention, or Focus on Tobacco Dependence and Smoking Cessation, contact 1-888-412-3090 or visit http://www.qualityprofiles.org/.

NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations and recognizes physicians in key clinical areas. NCQA’s Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care.  NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information through the Web, media and data licensing agreements in order to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.

At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to improve health and well-being at every stage of life. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacturing of medicines for people and animals. Our diversified global health care portfolio includes human and animal biologic and small molecule medicines and vaccines, as well as nutritional products and many of the world's best-known consumer products. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as the world's leading biopharmaceutical company, we also collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, Pfizer has worked to make a difference for all who rely on us.

ORGANIZATIONS CONTRIBUTING TO:
Quality Profiles™: The Leadership Series—Focus on Supporting Quality Improvement Through the Use of Health Information Technology

Centene Corporation, St. Louis, Missouri
Family Care Partners of N.E. Florida, LLC, Jacksonville, Florida
Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania
HealthPartners, Bloomington, Minnesota
Indiana Health Information Exchange, Indianapolis, Indiana
Institute for Family Health, New York, New York
Kaiser Permanente, Denver, Colorado
Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, California
Keystone Mercy Health Plan, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
AmeriHealth Mercy Health Plan, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, New York, New York
Oregon Health & Sciences University, Portland, Oregon
Partners Healthcare, Wellesley, Massachusetts
Superior HealthPlan Network – STAR Health, Austin, Texas
WellPoint, Inc., Thousand Oaks, California

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Quality Profiles is a trademark of NCQA; HEDIS is a registered trademark of NCQA. All rights reserved.